BBC Two – new idents

[The Data Doctor]

I know this has very little to do with Red Dwarf, apart from it relating to the channel which used to show it, but has anyone seen the new BBC Two idents today? They got rid of the ‘2’ logo after 27 years, bringing in a new bunch of sequences based around curve in its place. They look really nice – you can see them here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kElEnB4BFtE

And this is the goodbye sequence to the old logo, which I understand was directed by a certain John Hoare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq7aeMbVucY

EDIT: To make this post vaguely more Red Dwarf-related, here are the special idents produced for Red Dwarf Night in 1998: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbbVfaUHsn4

[Toxteth O-Grady]

Thank you for posting this!

Red Dwarf in its heyday was preceded by most of these idents, so I think it’s very apt you posted this. What a nostalgia trip!

The new idents are nice and all (if a little abstract), but I’ll miss seeing the old ones (several of which weren’t in the that goodbye sequence). Then again I don’t watch broadcast TV anymore, so it probably makes no difference to me.

I think the [original] paint ident is the most iconic of them all. Special mention to the particle and yapping dog ones too. Reminds me of when BBC 2 was my favourite channel.

[Dave]

Yeah, those bring back happy memories of some great comedy. A real trip down memory lane.

Some of my favourites weren’t in that montage – the shard of metal one, the steam one, and the original paint splash – but it’s still a really nice collection of idents.

[Bargain Bin Holly]

I can’t tell if that one BBC Two ident of playing pool was supposed to be a sexual innuendo or really fucking stupid

[Pete Part Three]

Anyone watch that, see an ident and have it immediately associate with a particular show (even though they were always random)?

The 2 that brings to mind Red Dwarf for me (aside from the 10th anniversary ones obvs) is the swirly one at 5.58.

The one in the bubble bath (4.18) reminds me of The Simpsons, the remote control one reminds me of Robot wars (3.21) despite the fact that I normally switched over after a couple of minutes, the one with the bucket (5.38) reminds me of The Weakest Link and the one with the sheet reminds me of TNG (7.05).

I don’t really know what I’m banging on about. Nice video, anyway.

[Dave]

Some of them definitely evoked specific shows for me too.

[Warbodog]

I associate the mysterious 90s blue ones with 6pm-7.30pm American import sci-fi and the jaunty late 90s bath/wheels/fly-zapper/yapping-dog type ones with comedy. They all get me pumped that I’m about to watch something great.

[Toxteth O-Grady]

A few missing ones that remind me of the 90s are the firecraker one, the falling metal shard one, and the one that falls into a huge pile of cocaine.

It’s surprising they never made a more sci-fi related ident, considering the amount of stuff they could have used it with:

Red Dwarf
TNG
Voyager
DS9
Space Precinct
Captain Scarlet
Buck Rodgers
Battlestar Galactica
Space 1999
Quantum Leap
The X-Files
Third Rock from the Sun
Hyperdrive

Even BBC One had a surface-of the-moon ident and a crop-circle ident recently. A missed opportunity for the 2s!

[Jawscvmcdia]

BBC2 Mars Weekend ident (1997)

[The Data Doctor]

Some of my favourites weren’t in that montage – the shard of metal one, the steam one, and the original paint splash – but it’s still a really nice collection of idents.

As I understand it, Dave, when they brought back these idents in 2014, they chose only to bring some of them back, hence why the one where the 2 has steam coming off it and the shard of metal weren’t seen in the montage.

[John Hoare]

As I understand it, Dave, when they brought back these idents in 2014, they chose only to bring some of them back, hence why the one where the 2 has steam coming off it and the shard of metal weren’t seen in the montage.

Yes indeed. The goodbye was to that particular 2 shape as a concept, but also a goodbye to the *current* set of 2s in use (at least on BBC Two network – Northern Ireland had a wider selection). It might have been nice to include a few others, but at seven and a half minutes the montage was probably long enough, and I wanted to give them a bit of time to play, rather than moving on after five seconds or so.

I’m glad people enjoyed it. I directed the final montage, but plenty of other people were involved in getting it to screen too, and the announcer Beccy wrote a lovely introduction for the beginning.

FWIW, I am of course biased, but I think the new look is absolutely stunning. I love it to bits. In many ways, it’s more like the original 1991 set than the later, more action-packed idents which came after it.

[Dave]

It’s surprising they never made a more sci-fi related ident, considering the amount of stuff they could have used it with

There’s the one with the ‘xenomorph’ 2 hatching out of an egg, isn’t there.

It’s featured at the start of this nice making-of video.

Was it Harry Enfield or The Fast Show that once opened with a gag about the ‘shard’ logo (involving them trying to drop the ‘2’ into place, but the point not sticking and it slipping off)?

[International Debris]

You might be thinking of this one from Harry Enfield, which I was half-hoping had been included in the montage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRTUNh1vPo

It’s the first thing in Harry Enfield’s Television Programme Series 2, and I actually think it set the bar too high for the rest of the series. I don’t know why, but it makes me laugh like an idiot.

[International Debris]

If you’ve got a spare 50 minutes, here’s the bulk of them in original transmission order:

(I think I’ve just found a new favourite YouTube channel).

[Paul Muller]

Apologies for lowering the tone, but Channel 4 has also done a rebrand. Including this rather lovely, Dwarf-esque space station, which I’m 76% sure is a nicely put together miniature shot.

[Dave]

You might be thinking of this one from Harry Enfield, which I was half-hoping had been included in the montage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmRTUNh1vPo

It’s the first thing in Harry Enfield’s Television Programme Series 2, and I actually think it set the bar too high for the rest of the series. I don’t know why, but it makes me laugh like an idiot.

I love Badfellas, but no, the sketch I’m thinking of specifically revolves around the ident and involves pulling back to show someone trying to drop the (tiny) shard-2 onto its base but failing to get it to stick in.

Someone must remember what I’m talking about!

[Pete Part Three]

Doesn’t ring a bell for me for The Fast Show or 90s Enfield.

[Dave]

Hmmm, maybe I’ve misremembered and it was from something else then.

[Lily]

Apologies for lowering the tone, but Channel 4 has also done a rebrand. Including this rather lovely, Dwarf-esque space station, which I’m 76% sure is a nicely put together miniature shot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djbTRK4UQoY

Ooooh, that is nice.

[Ridley]

First time I’ve noticed that the 2s bouncing off the paint tin is the inverse of the paint splash ident. I’m perceptive.

[International Debris]

I read about that on wikipedia yesterday and had one of those “woooow” moments.

[Plastic Percy]

Didn’t BBC 2 also have those fucking terrifying idents of a bloke running through the woods being chased by soldiers and dogs?

[John Hoare]

Didn’t BBC 2 also have those fucking terrifying idents of a bloke running through the woods being chased by soldiers and dogs?

They did indeed. Very expensive-looking, and worked brilliantly before dramas and the like.

They came in during the 2007 rebrand… and were withdrawn in 2009. Such a waste. They should have run for years.

[Dave]

I’ve never seen those before. They’re great.

[Author]

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